After the schematic that I submitted with my grid tie application was approved, we started ordering parts again. This time, even with bigger panels, the price had dropped to $337.00 each. To recap, I'll put it in dollars per rated watt. First purchase $5.13/watt, second purchase at $2.85/watt and last purchase at $1.40/watt. I'm sure the last also benefitted from being two dozen instead of 4 and 2 respectively.
My boss has been VERY good to me over the years, and this was no exception. We build large price signs on site where I work. Engineers, fabricators, welders, painters, etc. are all right here. DPW designed the rack system, but you buy the big steel pieces that make up the columns and the horizontal beam locally. So, going through our regular supplier, I ordered the pipe to make the 4 10'6" columns and the square tubing to span the 43' I needed. When it came in, the materials went directly into the fab shop to be cut to length, brackets fabricated and welded in place, etc. When they finished it, they took them across the yard and dropped them off in the paint shop. They were put at the front of the line in each case. From the time the raw materials were delivered until I loaded the painted and ready to go in the ground columns and the beam on my lawnmower trailer was 2 and a half days.
Here's a few pictures to show the DPW designed rack system being installed.
